Easy Monday

I shared last week Miss Britt had two big appointments. Thank you for all the messages, e-mails, texts, and prayers about those. They were both really good and we have nothing to be concerned about at the moment.

I've told you before that sometimes I get a little nervous sharing deep thoughts and personal experiences but every once in a while I just can't help myself. Here I go again... :)

Britt sees a craniofacial doctor for her cleft lip and cleft palate development. Prior to last year, I'd never thought about a craniofacial doctor before, but his/her job is dealing with any abnormalities with the head, skull, jaw, and neck whether it be from birth or acquired reasons. With the hit movie, Wonder, coming out last year I feel like everyone's a little more accustomed to what that might look like.

At Britt's appointment, I opened the door to the office and instantly saw a high school age boy that had severe abnormalities on one side of his face. You guys. I wanted to stop right there, crawl into a little ball, and sob for this boy. I don't know him. I didn't talk to him. He wasn't interested in making eye contact. I don't know how he feels about his life. Granted, I hope his parents are building him up, I hope he knows who holds his future, and I hope he has big, big dreams and fulfills every single one. But I do know this. His life is hard. Even just sitting in a waiting room with people who are probably the most like him in the world is really hard. It made me truly reconsider my "hard" days.

And I guess I'm writing this post for you to think about your "hard" days as well.

Trust me when I'm say I'm not talking about those of you that are truly having hard days...sick children, death, loss of a job, etc. Those things are hard. Really hard.

I'm referring to those "hard" days when everything doesn't go my {our-I'm speaking to myself but hoping you can relate.} way and I think it's been such a tough day. Maybe I have some extra unexpected work that takes longer than I was anticipating, I forget to turn the slow cooker on and dinner never cooks, I can't find Nixon's baseball pants so we're ten minutes late arriving to his game, and Tab was supposed to be home early but just called to let me know he'll be late. Let's be real, that day wasn't ideal but it wasn't "hard". Was it? Do you ever have those types of "hard" days?

I want this little place in the internet world to be a place that encourages you, uplifts you, and brings you a laugh. I'm not sure about you, but Mondays aren't always my favorite. I'd love to have just one extra weekend day. Wouldn't we all? But I hope today, you join me by slaying this Monday. And looking at it, like it's not so "hard".

Such a wonderful reminder, Erika. I had a "hard day" a couple of weeks ago, but looking back on it, it was NOTHING. Absolutely NOTHING. I need to keep this perspective all the time. And I just prayed for that boy's heart. He could teach us all something about hard days.

And thank you for making me cry before 6:30 am! No I joke I completely agree. I complain when the truth is my life is pretty simple and perfect. i learned in a prayer class every time you feel sorry for yourself that you should start praying for someone else. I'm going to keep that boy on my mind today. Thanks for sharing.

Great post. My husband was diagnosed with cancer in 2015, and while he is fine now, those days were the hard days. These busy days of activities, cooking dinner, husband coming home late from work, homework, etc, are nothing compared to that. We are all lucky to have these days.

Thanks for sharing - what a wonderful reminder!!! I have to stop myself a lot when I think I'm having a "hard day", especially when I walk into work past our Children's Hospital. My issues at that moment weren't hard at all.

Such a great post and so true. I sometimes feel sorry for my son because he has epilepsy which is controlled by medication. But 90% of the time when we go to the neurologist many others have much more severe neurological conditions then my son. It reminds me that I shouldn't feel sorry for him because he has epilepsy but to be grateful. Grateful for medications that control it and he lives a very normal life. Often if we can take a new or different look at a situation our hard may not be so bad. Hope you have a great week!

Thank you for sharing this. Every day I run into people who have absolutely no perspective and I'll be honest, it irritates me. I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 38 and that was hard. The double mastectomy and reconstruction was hard. But, the hardest was fearing that my 3 beautiful daughters would go through the trauma of losing their mother, and could still if the cancer returns. This new perspective has changed my life, in a good way. I think so many people would be a lot happier and a lot more grateful if they would constantly take a step back and get some perspective.

So true. I tell this story to people when they or I need to keep things in perspective. We were with our 4 boys in Disney one year and we were at the hotel waiting for the elevator. I asked my husband if he always thought our life would be like this, always having issues and difficulties,as we have a non verbal son with autism...I was a bit out of character and feeling a bit down after a major meltdown in the park( we are typically both very optomistic, never wear your heart on your sleeve kind of people). Before he could answer, the elevator doors opened and we stepped inside to find a family with a daughter,in a wheelchair, moaning. It was obvious that she had either CP or something similar. My heart broke. We exchanged smiles with her parents and her, and they stepped off at the next floor and we all wished each other a good day. We understood each other,just with a look and a smile. We both had kids with disabilities. When the doors closed, my hubby looked at me and said "See, things could always be worse." Boom! Put everything right back into perspective. Yes, we have gone through our share of extremely difficult days, too many to get into, but we are also blessed, and I was reminded of that and continue to be reminded daily. I hope the boy you saw has a wonderful life ahead of him filled with all that he dreams of,and I wish the same for all of our special children..they deserve nothing less.

What a great post.... thank you so much for the reminder and for putting things in perspective on this Monday morning. I am going to try really hard to remember this ALL week when my week gets really "busy & hard" . praying for that young man and his parents and his future!!!!

This is such a great reminder. Forgetting to turn on the slow cooker so your raw chicken just sits there ALL DAY? Yep. Running around looking for that last piece of someone's uniform and being late? Always. And needing one extra day in the weekend? (Especially this past weekend). Also me. But I'm so grateful that my life (at this very moment) is not HARD. Sending up a special prayer for the boy you saw in the doctor's office.

Thank you so much for posting this today. I can only imagine how hard that boy's life is - each day would be a struggle. In our house, we have had a few teen technology issues that got me down last week. But I only have to think about that boy or my friend's son with leukemia, and then I remember what "hard" really looks like.

Amen. And yes, this is safe place. This is a place to be each other's champions and sounding boards and mama tribe. Prayers for that boy and for you guys. But yes, we all have those days. Mine was saturday with a toddler who just would not stop whining. Trivial, but nonetheless hard.

Both you and one of my other favorite bloggers wrote about having "hard" days today (https://www.carlytheprepster.com/2018/04/6-ways-to-handle-hard-days.html)! Maybe it's just coincidence, but I think it's meant to be an extra sweet reminder to me that sometimes I just need to adjust my thinking, do a little self care, and my favorite quote of all time - "take a nap and get over it." :) Thank you for this!! xoxo

Doesn't it just put everything into perspective for you when you have moments like that? My youngest son had cranial reconstruction surgery when he was 11 months old. I had a similar moment during one of his appointments. Here I was thinking...oh, poor me...my baby has to have surgery and then I walk in and see this little girl who will probably have to endure MANY surgeries over the next years and my heart just ached for her. I thought - wow, our surgery is peanuts compared to what she and her family are going to experience. God is always teaching us something, right? :) Such a good reminder!

This was beautiful and touched my heart deeply. I try to live my life this way daily---always realizing that someone else is always going through something WAY more difficult and challenging. If our "hards" are not life threatening or traumatic in some way we need to focus and pray for the people who truly are facing life's hardest challenges. I just watched Wonder on Saturday evening and though all of these same things. That little boy will be in my heart and prayers as well.

Yes! This. I never knew hard things were until our youngest (15 months) just kept getting sick. Over and over. I used to complain about Work and stress. But until you have a chronically ill child each day and you are scared for their lives......it’s a different kind of gut punch scare. I try to only complain about legit things worth completely worrying about things that truly affects lives.

I heard someone say once that the "forgetting to turn on the slow cooker" moments are just inconveniences. Those don't ruin your life; they can just ruin the moment. When you think about it that way, it can definitely change your perspective.